Crossroads (9 page)

“
Okay, I love it…and…I’ll
take it,” Clara said, wanting to please Patty.

“
Great, let’s take a look
at some jeans to go with it. And we’re having a sale on some
jewelry as well.”

Clara followed her like a lost puppy,
and soon we were at the cash register. She bought two pairs of
jeans, because she was undecided, three shirts, and a long chained
silver necklace. Patty was such the saleslady. I helped her stuff
the items into the Fashion Wear bag, a cheap gray plastic bag with
the FW logo on it.

Patty looked into Clara’s eyes with a
big smile and said, “Thank you, Clara. Come again soon, and I’ll
help you with anything you need.”

Clara looked so pleased and by now
probably worshipped Patty for her expertise in fashion.

“
Thank you, Patty, for
everything. And don’t worry, I’ll come again soon. You were so
helpful and very attentive.”

Clara was gleaming with happiness and
held the bag close to her, as if she had diamonds in it. After
Clara walked out, Patty turned to me proudly and said, “And that’s
how you do it!”

“
You were fabulous!” I
said excitedly, thinking I had a lot of learning to do.

She giggled. “Thank you. With practice
you’ll be as good as me…well, almost,” she teased.

“
Maybe better,” I teased
back.

She gave a fake frown, and nudged my
shoulder playfully and said, “It’s always busy like this on
Saturdays, but it makes the time go faster. Having fun?”

As I nudged her back, I replied, “I
was so excited to actually have a job, and I didn’t know what to
expect, but it’s so cool working with you. And you, my friend, are
an awesome saleslady. Thank you for getting me this job.” I
smiled.

“
Thank you, my friend, for
telling me that I’m awesome. But you got the job yourself.” She
smiled back and bowed gracefully and walked away to attend to
another customer.

“
Regardless, thank you,” I
said, but I didn’t even know if she heard me.

Throughout the day, I watched Patty
work her magic. The day went by in a flash. I couldn’t believe it
when the clock said it was almost nine o’clock.

Patty’s cell phone rang,
and she answered. “Hi, Mom. You’re what? H
HH
ow? I’m almost done. But, I…now?
Okay, bye.” She ran toward me looking very upset and confused. “My
mom locked herself out, and she left the stove on. I’ve gotta go,
but I’m suppose to lock up, or maybe you can, or…I don’t know. I’ve
gotta go. What should I do?”

“
Calm down, Patty.” I
placed both of my hands on her shoulders. I caught on to what she
was trying to tell me. “Don’t worry. Show me how to lock up and go.
I’ll be fine. I just have to be here fifteen minutes and then lock
up. No biggy. Just don’t tell my mom I was here by myself,
okay?”

She nodded quickly. “Okay. I’ll make
this fast. It’s really easy. Nothing to it,” she said, rushing. She
opened the cash register and took out a key. “Use this spare key
for tonight. Don’t forget to bring it back with you tomorrow.” Then
she pulled me toward the entrance door. “Push this red button to
activate the alarm, walk out, and lock the door.”

“
That’s it?” I
asked.

“
That’s it,” she repeated.
“Thanks, I owe you big time. Just text or call me if you need any
help, and text me when you get home, or I’ll worry, Okay?” She
sounded frazzled as she looked at me for approval.

“
Don’t worry. Just go,” I
said. “What could happen in fifteen minutes?”

“
I’m so sorry. Your first
day at work and I have to leave you. Gosh, what was my mom
thinking! Ahhh! I’m so mad at her right now.”

“
Don’t worry about it.
Don’t be mad at her. She didn’t do it on purpose. I’m a big girl,”
I said, smiling. “Now, go!” I said sternly. I practically shoved
her out the door. Patty gave me a tight squeeze and left. Off she
went pedaling as fast as she could. For her sake, I hoped she
didn’t hit all the red lights.

Fifteen minutes usually passes with a
snap of a finger, so I waited for customers to enter while I paced
through the rack of clothes, looking for something that might catch
my eye. At least the music was keeping me company, but not a single
customer walked through the door. Fourteen minutes. Thirteen
minutes. I decided not to look at the clock every minute, but the
longer I stayed here alone, the more anxious I started to
feel.

Suddenly, I heard a loud BAM! It
sounded like one of the dressing room doors had closed
itself.

Stay calm. It’s nothing. It’s just the
wind, I told myself.

I couldn’t recall a customer being in
one of the dressing rooms, so I guessed the door must have closed
from the breeze that was coming from the air vent. Feeling more
frightened than before, I quickly glanced at the clock. I decided
to close five minutes early since nobody would notice, and that was
when the music stopped.

I froze. My heart skipped a beat. It
was like I was in a scary movie. I ran to switch the music button
back on, then remembered that the control panel was located inside
the dressing area. I stopped when I got near the door. I didn’t
want to go in there, but I had to prove to myself that it was a
coincidence, and that the music was probably on a timer set to turn
off at a given time.

As I slowly walked in, I looked around
the five dressing rooms and saw that all the doors were closed. I
was able to spot the switch quickly, as I remembered Patty pointing
to the wall right next to the first dressing room. Just as I
reached for the switch, the lights went off; it was
pitch-black.

What was going on? This couldn’t be
happening. Maybe Patty forgot to tell me that the lights went off
automatically. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this.
Although I could see some dim lights from the parking lot
glimmering through the windows, it was still dark, and I could
barely make anything out. Then I heard a soft eerie voice call my
name. “Claudia…”

I didn’t answer. I thought I was
losing my mind. Then I heard my name being called again in the same
creepy voice. “Claudia…”

Hearing my name for the second time
was a sure sign that I was not delusional. Immediately I panicked.
I knew for a fact that there was no one here except me. I calmed
down and decided to answer, thinking that maybe Patty was playing a
joke on me. “He…ellooo. Anyone there?” I asked quietly.

“
Claudia,
commme.”

“
Who are you? How do you
know my name?” I demanded. “Patty, is that you? You can stop now!
I’m on to you! It’s not funny anymore! You’re scaring me!” I was
envisioning Patty turning on the lights, laughing, and telling me
it was her way of initiating a new employee. Please let it be her,
I prayed.

“
Follow the light,” the
voice continued, ignoring my request.

When it spoke again, I knew with
certainty that it wasn’t Patty’s voice. The voice was very enticing
and for some unknown reason, I wanted to go to it, even though I
was scared for my life. Suddenly I was in a hypnotic state; I had
no control of where I was going, though I could see and hear
everything around me.

“
Claudia, Claudia…come to
me.”

I was walking toward the light, which
was glowing around a door. As I placed my hand on the doorknob, the
bright light began to fade. I didn’t want to move, but my body and
mind were not in sync. I could see my hand twisting the doorknob,
even though I was screaming inside telling myself not to open it. I
could no longer resist, and I succumbed to the calling that would
lead me into the darkness.

As I obediently walked into the room,
the door behind me slammed shut. The loud bang jolted me out of the
trance, leaving me to wonder why I was there. Immediately I turned
to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Twisting, pulling, and
turning the knob every way possible was useless. With my back
against the door, I searched the pockets of my jeans, only to
realize I had left my cell phone next to the register. What could
happen in fifteen minutes? I remembered telling Patty. I should’ve
kept my mouth shut.

Feeling hopeless, I suddenly noticed
something glowing down low, just adjacent to the door. It was
something other than the moonlight beaming through the small
window. Something was plugged into the wall, and the tip of it was
bright so that you could spot it easily. As I reached to examine it
with my hand, I was relieved to find that it was an emergency
flashlight. I had never been so happy to see one. I grabbed it and
looked around to see where I stood. Several tables were lined in
the middle of this huge room with stacked clothes: jeans, T-shirts,
dresses, and much more. I would have never guessed the storage room
would be this big.

As I walked closer to the tables, I
thought I saw someone or something. A rush of fear swept over me,
and every nerve in my body awakened.

“
Who are you? What do you
want?” I said out loud, holding the flashlight closer and tighter
to my chest as I trembled with fright. But there was no
response.

I couldn’t tell what it was at first,
until it whooshed past me, almost knocking me over. My heart
started thumping faster. A black cloud of fog was what I thought I
saw. My eyes were glued to it as it swooped up to the high ceiling
and then disappeared. Was it a ghost? I couldn’t believe what I had
just seen, but there was something definitely there, something
menacing. As it materialized again and whooshed past me, I used the
flashlight to hit it, hoping to knock it out or hurt it. But the
flashlight went right through it. At that moment, the courage to
fight back vanished.

Suddenly the room became extremely
cold. It was so cold that I could see the mist flow out of my mouth
as my breath became heavy with fear. Shivering, I hugged myself as
I tried to find something, anything, to keep me warm. Then I
thought of running to the window to scream as loudly as I possibly
could in hopes that someone would hear me.

As I turned to run, the clothes on the
table came flying toward me. I screamed out loud in panic. Using
both arms to cover my face, I tried to reach for the door again.
Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to open it, it was the only
way out. I was confused, and I didn’t know which way to
go.

Suddenly the black cloud came at me
even faster and harder. I kept backing away, shielding myself with
my arm as I tried to escape, but it was relentless. It knocked the
wind out of me, and I was gasping for air. Then it stopped. Feeling
breathless and disoriented, I rubbed my sore arm and looked
around.

Realizing I was now at the opposite
end of the room from the door, I backed away slowly, taking one
baby step at a time, afraid that it may sense my movement again.
When I thought I had backed far enough away, I dashed for the door.
That was when I felt something cold at my feet. It was already
freezing in the room, but this coldness was directed solely at my
feet, and the pain stung right through to my bones. I tried to run
again, but it was no use. It felt like my feet were cemented to the
ground. When I looked down, a long black fog that looked like a
slithering headless anaconda started circling me.

The fog took the form of a snake, the
thing I feared most. The one thing that would make my skin crawl
inside and out was now taunting me, like I was about to be its next
meal. The farther it moved upwards, the farther the coldness and
the pain spread. As I stood there like a statue, a single nerve
jolted through my body like lightning from my head to my toes. I
tried to control my panic as my whole body trembled from the cold
and fright. Trying to fight back, I looked around to see if there
was anything I could use to defend myself against this attack,
anything but this useless flashlight and my sore arm, but there was
nothing.

The black smoke finally showed its
face, but only for a split second before disappearing. Just a
glance at the monstrous black face and demonic yellow eyes was
enough to paralyze me. The fog seemed to be getting pleasure out of
making my blood race with fear, teasing and taunting, shifting back
and forth from a fog-like form to a snake. When it became the
snake, it took a solid form with its red tongue slithering in and
out, looking for the perfect place on my body to strike.

It began to squeeze tighter again, and
I could no longer feel my legs. Blood rushed to my head, and I was
certain death would be next. I wanted to grab the head of the
snake, but I couldn’t. The thought of touching it made me cringe,
and I knew my hands would simply go right through it just as the
flashlight had. Besides, I was a mere human next to this creature
of immense power. There was no way I would win.

Let this be a dream, I prayed. Things
like this didn’t happen in real life. I needed to find a way to
wake up. Wake up! Wake up! Help! Somebody help me! I screamed
inside.

“
No one can help you,” it
hissed wickedly.

I was so astonished to hear it speak
that I was speechless. Then it hit me; hearing the snake fog or
whatever it was speak to me was a sure sign that I was dreaming.
Any minute now, I would wake up from this nightmare.